A little MDF, a little plywood, some bits of threaded rod – put it all together and you’ve got this low-cost desktop CNC build using very few parts you’d need to go farther afield than the local home center to procure.
We’ve seen lots of e-waste and dumpster diving CNC builds here before; what’s appealing here is not only the low price tag of the build but also its approachability. As the short videos below show, [Thimo Voorwinden] does an admirable job of using the tools and materials he has on hand. We also appreciate the modularity of the build – the X- and Y-axis carriages are nearly identical and could be interchanged to alter the dimensions of the work area, or even replaced with a larger carriage if needed. The Z-axis is a little different from the usual low-end CNC build in that it doesn’t use a Dremel or other small rotary tool but rather mounts the handpiece of a flexible shaft rotary tool. Keeping the motor off the machine allows for more torque, less vibration, and reduced dead load.
The end result is a desktop CNC for about €200 with a work area large enough to fabricate small wooden and plastic parts, or to mill foam blocks for use as casting molds. It looks like [Thimo] has more in store for his little CNC machine, and we’re looking forward to seeing what improvements he can come up with.
[ via r/CNC]
This one is tiny, much smaller, but there is just a video of it working,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYg0CahSGCs
Is there a video showing it construction ?
I wonder what the xy table is ? An old cd drive ??
image stabilizer from old camera imho…
Lets see if I can get the picture to work this time, this was mine in 1994
https://goo.gl/photos/nuwitqJXkC3GV3v69
`Avoid sharp and excessive bends in the flex-shaft. Lasts longer and less vibration. There ain’t much bearing in there to begin with, but easily replaceable.
Does there exist an automated eigenfrequency resolver of devices like these? It would be interesting if you could do High-Speed Milling with elastic structures made of engineering woods.
Shameless plug for an even simpler milling machine of similar size: the Mantis Electron: http://www.reprap.org/wiki/Mantis_Electron_0.9
http://www.reprap.org/mediawiki/images/b/bd/Mantis_Electron_0.9.png
A lot like (and potentially more accurate?) the Mantis CNC machine of old:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5siv7DM08bw&feature=youtu.be